Please join us Friday, Nov. 2nd to help us honor Tom “Plow” Schuler as our 2018 Sports Inductee to the Wisconsin Bicycling Hall of Fame. We’re excited to have Tom’s friend and former 7-Eleven teammate Bob “Bobke” Roll as our special guest for the festivities. The event begins with a VIP meeting with Bobke and Plow at 5 pm, general admission at 6 pm, Induction Ceremony at 7 pm and an exciting live auction for one-of-a-kind items at 8 pm.

Bobke will share stories from his days racing in Europe with Plow on the 7-Eleven Team, the first U.S. team to race in the Tour de France, in 1986. If you have read the book, Team 7-Eleven: How an Unsung Band of American Cyclists Took on the World and Won, you will remember Bob Roll was a standout character in a team of unlikely cycling stars. Bobke went on to race professionally as one of in the early days of mountain bike racing and continues to entertain and inform as an announcer for NBC Sports during the Tour de France and other major stage races.

Schuler was inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2007 and would have earned a spot in the Wisconsin Bicycling Hall of Fame if he did nothing more than co-found the 7-Eleven Cycling team with Jim Ochowicz in 1981. But after he retired from racing, he has continued to have a positive impact on cycling, at the local, state, national and world level.

While Schuler is a Michigan native, he has spent the last 30 plus years in Wisconsin managing teams and athletes with his firm Team Sports Inc. He has mentored more than 40 athletes who have gone on to compete in the Olympics and won national and world championships. A father of three, Schuler now lives in Milwaukee and has also helped promote the sport in the region as a partner in the Tour of America’s Dairyland and Intelligentsia Cup.

Classic Schuler!

Although he has raced against legends like Bernard Hinault and won the 1987 US Pro Road Championship, Schuler remains one of the most humble and likable icons in the sport of cycling. A self-described “lifer,” Schuler still rides his bike from his Milwaukee home to his office, organizes the infamous “Bone Ride” from Milwaukee to Madison for lunch and back, and organizes a host of top-class races and charity rides.

Bob Roll racing the hard line in the 1988 Paris-Roubaix. Photo by Graham Watson

This year our Hall of Fame ceremony will be at The Garage in the cool Harley Davidson Museum, 600 E Canal Street, in Milwaukee. The ticket prices include heavy appetizers, beer, wine and soft drinks. You will want to get to the event at 6 pm to have time to browse and bid on great silent auction items. Be sure to be in place by 7 pm for our induction ceremony with Bob Roll and Tom Schuler. Immediately following the ceremony we will have a silent auction featuring one-of-a-kind items and trips.

Our special guest is Bob “Bobke” Roll, Schuler’s long-time friend, former 7-Eleven teammate, professional mountain biker and now an announcer on NBC Sports for the Tour de France, and author of several books. Beyond his impressive palmares, Bobke is quite a character in his own right with plenty of hilarious stories from the pro peloton to share.

About Dave Schlabowske, Deputy Director

Dave was the first full-time staff member hired to open the Bike Fed's Milwaukee office 15 years ago. A former professional photographer and life-long Milwaukee resident, Dave likes wool, long rides, sour beer, and a good polar vortex once in a while.